Segregation by intentional government action is not de facto. Rather, it is what courts call de jure: segregated by law and public policy.
-- Rothstein (Preface paragraph 1)

Importance: This quote establishes the key dichotomy that Rothstein utilizes throughout the book to consider who is responsible for residential racial segregation in the United States. Understanding the roles de facto and de jure segregation have played in American history is essential to the core argument of the book, namely that government officials through the use of law and policy are responsible for residential racial segregation in the United States.

The core argument of this book is that African Americans were unconstitutionally denied the means and the right to integration in middle-class neighborhoods, and because this denial was state-sponsored, the nation is obligated to remedy it.
-- Rothstein (Preface paragraph 3)

Importance: Here, Rothstein explicitly states the thesis of the book for the reader to understand his argument, as well as how he will...